Yesterday morning I took the high-speed train to Barcelona, the perfect 3 hour opportunity for more Serial (somehow I stopped myself so that I could save episode 9 for another day). I met up with friends, Sarah and Alisa, and we’ve packed a lot into our 2 days here – jamon, Gaudi, more jamon, you get the picture.

First up yesterday was lunch at La Boqueria, the big market in the city. We walked around visiting the different stalls before committing to one sit-down place for lunch. We started with an appetizer of different types of jamon served in paper serving cones (these cones are all the rage right now!), and then found ourselves at a seafood stall where we had great pulpo (octopus) and fish.

We took a walking tour of the Gothic Quarter, including the old Jewish synagogue where I remembered seeing this beautiful stained glass window years ago (Rach, do you remember this?).

After a nice long siesta we were ready to eat again, so it was off to Mont Bar, which came highly recommended by friends. The food was good, but this smoked tuna belly was GREAT! The homemade chocolate ice cream with pop rocks wasn’t too shabby either.

After dinner we stopped off at an old hangout from Sarah’s days abroad in Barcelona, 12 years ago – La Pipa Club. It used to be a secret bar where you had to buzz up to have the door opened for you. Today, the entrance is different but everything else has remained the same. A good walk down memory lane and then we had to call it a night.

Day 2 was equally as food intensive! We knew we were going to Cal Pep for lunch, so we planned the entire day around it. First up was a walk down Passeig de Gracia to see all of the Gaudi sites. I’ve seen these buildings – Casa Batllo, La Pedrera, La Sagrada Familia –  a couple times before, but they really are amazing each and every time! In front of La Pedrera, I immediately had flashbacks to being on this street years ago and almost losing my shorts, a few of you might remember that too 😉.

After working up an appetite on our walk, it was finally time for Cal Pep. I had been for a memorable dinner back in 2006 and was excited to return. The waitstaff all looked remarkably familiar, and the crazy thing is I have photos from that visit and they are all still the same!! Lunch was pan con tomate, jamon (we ordered an extra plate because it went so quickly), amazing fried artichokes (!!!), tuna tartare, and grilled squid. 

In our food comas, we made a stop at the Picasso museum and saw early works from the teenage years. We called it an early day and took a short siesta so that we could head out for some futbol. FC Barcelona v. Sevilla FC. It was awesome to be in Barcelona’s big house, Camp Nou, and even better that Barca won 5-1, with their star player, Messi, scoring 3 goals.  Quite an experience!!

Heading down to Morocco tonight for the week. But until then, miles of jamon before we sleep.